2009 40 Under Forty: Jeanette Mesite Frem

Jeanette Mesite Frem

Age: 38

Title: CEO

Company: Mothers & CO.

Company location: Boylston

Residence: Boylston

College: The American University and Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene & Public Health

Career highlights: I currently run Mothers & Co., which provides classes and essentials for maternity and parenting. I also teach fun and thorough childbirth classes and attend births as doula (providing emotional, physical and informational support to moms and their partners before, during and after birth). My passion for supporting new families began during the two years I worked with a midwife in a village in West Africa.

Community involvement: Whether I’m working to keep Peace Corps Volunteers connected through Friends of Cote d’Ivoire, a nonprofit I founded in 1995, or working with the Boston Association for Childbirth Education, I love the connections that are formed within the community. I’m also a board member of the Healthy Mothers Heathy Babies Coalition of Massachusetts and the Partners in Perinatal Health Conference Committee.

Biggest professional success: Watching my business grow as a community resource for growing families is amazing. And the fact that I learn something new everyday is success. I love my job; not everyone can say that.

Dream job: Fan liaison or tour photographer for Duran Duran.

Businessperson she admires most and why: I admire anyone who starts a business, especially business owners who help other business owners succeed.

If you weren’t doing the job you’re doing now, what would you do? I’d be a lawyer, representing the underdog and working to make life fair and just for everyone.